Aberrant Lucidity

(Updated - Originally published 4/23/15)  Where is the beauty in the news?  Local news isn’t even local anymore.  All of the stations have the exact same stories; stories designed to create fear and paranoia.  It may seem hilarious when late night shows do a montage of allegedly independent local news stations using the exact same verbiage all across the nation, but it’s really creepy. “Tune in tonight as we remind you of a young woman that was skinned alive and raped 20 years ago.  We’ll discuss the gruesome details with the son of the perpetrator who confessed on his deathbed.  And later, is vanilla or chocolate ice cream healthier for your heart? ” "Fact not fear!  Tonight we tell you how many people have died from Covid without providing any context whatsoever and leave you to wonder if everyone you love will be dead in two weeks time!" It bleeds, it leads.  It  doesn't  matter where the bleeding occurs as long as white ...

Why is the stock market allowed?  Seriously; why do we allow so-called  “investors” manipulate everything about our economy?  On the one hand it's international legalized gambling that not only affects the livelihoods of the investors, but potentially hundreds of millions if not billions of people in the world and on the other hand it's used for currency manipulation and strong-arming new entries to the market into complying with the established market (or preventing entry altogether).  I wouldn't call that a free market so much as a market controlled tightly by the very people who the regulations are supposed to protect everyone else from.   Do you realize that “speculators” can lie, cheat and manipulate the perception of the value of existing and future goods?  Some ultra-wealthy guys in New York can basically decide what percentage of Americans can afford to drive to work and buy bacon each month.  The immediate repercussions of decisions made ...